Hardest of Hearts
by BrighterShadeOfWhite
Summary: My first ever fanfic! SeverusSnape/LilyEvans with some SeverusSnape/HermioneGranger later on. Loosely based on the song Hardest of Hearts by Florence and the Machine. Can an emotionless man truely love?
1. Lily Evans

**Hardest Of Hearts**

**A/N** Hey Guys! If your reading this that means I've finally got the first ever chapter of my first ever fanfic up! :P Just a couple of notes before I start. This is going to start as a Snape/Lily fanfic, but later on it will move on to a Snape/Hermione fanfic, so if you don't like either of those pairings you're probably better off reading something else. This is going to follow the Harry Potter timeline, other than the pairings, its not going to be AU at all. This isn't a one shot, and has the potential to be quite long, but I aim to have it done by at least the end of the year. And lastly, Reviews and cookies are love 3 :P If you really want to flame me, if it's seriously _that_ bad, go ahead and do it, otherwise I'll never get any better.

**Disclaimer:** This fanfic uses characters from Harry Potter by JK Rowling and is inspired by the song Hardest Of Hearts by Florence and the Machine. Last time I checked, I wasn't either of these people :P

To an outsider, the greed on the young boy's face was obvious. He was a fairly tall, stick-like boy, with an unhealthy looking yellow tinge to his otherwise pale face, and his dark black hair lying limply and unkempt, just grazing his shoulders. The target of his gaze was a young girl. He stared at her, wide-eyed, across the length of grassy field that ran across the side of the bare-brick houses at the edge of the village. To him, watching her had become routine, however, he could still remember the first time he had set eyes on her.

She had sat there on the swing, just as she did now, her startlingly red hair brushed behind her and away from her face, allowing her sharp green eyes to shine out separately and distinctly from her heart-shaped face. She was as pale as the full moon, in an oddly attractive way, with a slight smattering of reddish brown freckles across her high cheekbones. He had been captivated by her even then. Only a few yards away from her had sat another girl, legs crossed, her eyes averted skywards in a stubborn seeming way. In Severus' eyes she was a repulsive little creature, the polar opposite of her sister. She was a skinny little thing, with permed blonde hair, and a neck that was far too long for the rest of her body. Severus could only assume by her attitude that it had somehow stretched, to make it easier for her to sneer at people. As instantly as he had felt attraction to the sweet red-head, Severus felt hatred for the skeletal blonde. However, at first she had had her uses. The young boy soon found himself stopping by the little grass verge regularly, cautiously eavesdropping on their conversations. It beat staying at home anyway. He had soon learnt that the red-head was Lily Evans, and the pale stuck up girl was her sister Petunia, however it wasn't long before the things he learnt about Lily made her ever more bewitching to him.

He could even remember the first time it had happened, not that it was easy to forget. It had been a month since he had first started watching Lily when, as he had watched from his hiding place behind a sturdy sycamore tree, she had flung herself from the highest point of the swing. Severus never knew whether or not it had been intentional, but it certainly shocked her sister. Flinching, he had waited for the thud and crunch of bones as the girl hit the floor, and her sister got the sense to stop shrieking.

"Lily??" Petunia gasped, making Severus look up. Gracefully, the freckled girl slowly sunk to the floor, holding her pose like a ballerina.

Severus gaped in shock. _She was like him!_ His thin lips broke into an easy smile, as he watched her continue her descent. Gently she hit the floor. Petunia stared at her.

"What have you done now? Just wait 'till I tell Dad!" Petunia yelped at her younger sister.

Severus took a couple of minutes to hold back his laughter of shock and relief, before he left for home that day, to try and accept what he had seen. He _knew _he had a reason for liking that muggle girl.

Severus doubted that he would ever get to know he fathers reaction, but he was sure it had been better than his own father's. Soon enough, Lily started to come to the grass verge more regularly, and more on her own. At first, Severus questioned what had changed. Perhaps she had been rejected by her family? Perhaps her sister didn't want to risk being near her anymore? Either way, Severus soon discovered he was glad for it. It was so much easier watching the muggle-born on her own, without the distraction of her irritating elder sister. He was still fascinated by her. Occasionally, Severus would toy with the idea of trying to speak with her, now her sister wasn't always there, and the two of them had something in common. It didn't matter that she didn't understand it yet, it would give him the chance to he convince her he was _normal_. That _they _were normal. But in honest truth Severus just didn't know what he would say to her.

Today, she sat with her sister again. It was irritating to him, but he had promised himself, and nobody broke a promise to Severus Snape. He was not going to let himself chicken out now, not when he had been planning for months. He was going to do it. Now. With legs like lead weights he began walking slowly towards them. Today was the day Severus Snape introduced himself to Lily Evans.

**A/N **Hope you liked it! Remember, I love reviews so please click the button at the bottom of the page! Chapter 2 should be up soon.

Brighty x


	2. Meeting

**A/N **Gosh! Not even I thought I was gonna update this one so fast.... I guess this has kinda inspired me. Whether or not this is a good thing.... well I'll just have to find out :D Just a quick warning before I get on with the story – This chapter uses a bit of dialogue from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be in **bold** so you know where it is. I didn't write that stuff! It belongs to JK Rowling, and Warner Brothers, if they decide to use those lines in the film. On with the story...

**Disclaimer: ** This fanfic uses characters from Harry Potter by JK Rowling and is inspired by the song Hardest Of Hearts by Florence and the Machine. Last time I checked, I wasn't either of these people :P

As Severus bumbled quietly about the best way to make his approach, the elder girl's head shot up. Following her gaze, he spotted Lily, stepping delicately toward the flowers towards the end of the grass verge, with a determined look glazed over her face. Severus' own face twisted upwards, in something that ought to have been a smile, but seemed to have got stuck somewhere between an expression of greed, want, and amazement.

"Lily?" Petunia asked, somehow sounding scared and threatening at the same time.

**"'Tuney, look at this." **the little redhead giggled **"Watch what I can do."**

Petunia looked round desperately for somebody to back her up. There was no one. Of course. The only person who could see them was Severus, and he was just out of their own line of sight. Meanwhile, Lily had continued to walk determinedly towards the small cluster of pale pink flowers. She picked one up, holding it in the palm of her hand. Petunia scurried behind her, interested in spite of herself. Lily brought up her green eyes to look into Petunia's.

"Look," she whispered.

Gently, she pulled her fingers back, so the delicate little flower was balanced at the highest point of her hand. As the sisters gazed at it, it began to move. The petite petals began curling in over themselves, gently bowing up and down, perfectly in time. It was beautiful. It was stunning. It was perfect. Petunia didn't like it.

**"Stop it!" **she shrieked

**"It's not hurting you," **Lily replied calmly, however as she said it, she crushed the little posy in her hand, letting it drop to the floor, to its brothers and sisters.

**"Its not right," **Petunia murmured, her eyes still on the discarded blossom. She gazed at it for a couple more moments, as if waiting for something, before raising her voice and asking, **"How do you do it?"**

Unable to contain himself any longer, Severus leapt forwards throwing away any kind of plan.

**"It's obvious, isn't it?" **he gasped. Petunia squealed, leaping back a couple of paces, before running back a couple more. Lily, however, remained glued to the ground with her eyes wide in shock. Severus flushed a little. This was not going how he planned.

**"What's obvious?"** Lily asked, shocked. Quickly, Severus glanced back and forth between the two sisters, his dark eyes always lingering slightly longer on Lily. The look of horror on Petunia's face was slowly twisting into something else...

Severus lowered his voice **"I know what you are." **He said smugly.

**"What do you mean?" **She replied

**"You're... you're a witch," **He whispered, drawing closer to Lily.

Instantly, she pulled away, looking offended.**"_That's _not a very nice thing to say to somebody!" **She turned away from Snape, her nose in the air as if she were imitating her sister, and began to march off.

**"No!" **he called after her. He was starting to sound embarrassed. Red in the face, Severus flapped wildly after her. Both girls looked over to him disapprovingly, Petunia now looking thoroughly disgusted. He stepped forwards.**"You _are_" **He tried again **"You _are_ a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."**

Petunia laughed shallowly, mocking him. She looked at him distastefully, before continuing.

** "Wizard!" **she laughed **"_I _know who _you_ are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river. Why have you been spying on us?" **She asked, craning her long neck over him as she sneered. Severus hadn't thought it possible to hate her more. He pulled himself up, his loose clothes hanging round him, and glared at her.

**"Haven't been spying," **he said defensively. **"Wouldn't spy on _you _anyway," **he added** "_you're _a Muggle" **

Petunia raised her eyebrows. Confused but offended, she grabbed her sister's thin wrist and tugged.

**"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" **She squeaked, pulling her sister towards the row of houses. Lily didn't bother arguing with her, only sparing Snape a glance. The sisters raced towards the row of houses, and left Severus just watching after them. He turned away, looking bitter. He crossed his arms. '

'_Damn_' A small voice whispered defeatedly in the corner of his head. It had all gone wrong. Slowly, and dragging his feet, Severus started home.

**A/N Thank you for reading again! Please drop a review if you have time!**


	3. Spinner's End

**A/N Okay... first things first, a big thank you to my first reviewer, jade! I would have mailed you thanking you, but you don't have an account :O Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to you. Unfortunately, it's not going to be the happiest of chapters. Secondly, I've decided on a updating schedule, because of school, I'm going to update once a week at the weekend, but possibly twice if I'm in a good mood, or if I'm ill, like I am at the moment :( So, now that's over with, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: This fanfic uses characters from Harry Potter by JK Rowling and is inspired by the song Hardest Of Hearts by Florence and the Machine. Last time I checked, I wasn't either of these people :P **

With his eyes fixed still on the ground, Severus turned his back on the friendly side of town. Spinner's end was situated on the far west-end of the town, right by the river, and as close as possible to the old cotton mill without being inside it. It was not a nice end of town. Still dragging his scuffed boots behind him, Severus crossed the borderline where the old Victorian houses went from half-reasonable, to almost slums. The old mill that lay right by his house was just visible in the distance. However, even from here, the grotesque, large old building towered over the whole road, no, the whole half of town, making it almost eternally dark. The old mill blocked the bright sun during the day, and now stopped the street from being bathed in the light of the rising moon. The lack of light meant the section of town was almost always cold, and when it rained it took forever to dry. There were still puddles left from last weeks rain. As a result, most of the houses had damp. Like Severus' home. Some of the cobbles of the darkening, deserted street were loose, and wobbled in the cement when Severus trod on them. A couple even dislodged.

Severus tripped, his foot catching on another of the loose cobbles, and landed face first on the dank road. Breathing heavily, he started to check himself over, looking for any injuries. He pulled his large pale hands over his left leg. Fine, with the exception of a small tear in his jeans, mum could fix that. If she had the time. And if his father didn't spot it first. To be safe, he ought to try and hide it with something. Moving slower, he pulled his left hand over the white smock that covered his torso, and the rest of his upper body, only to find himself uninjured. Finally, he brought his hand up to his yellowish face, only to pull it back sharply. His hand was wet. Blood? Quickly, he pressed his hand up to his nose and sniffed. It didn't _smell_ like blood, and now, looking at it, it didn't look like blood anyway. Cautiously, he put his hand to his lips. Salty. It tasted _salty. _Oh.

Quickly, Severus wiped away the shameful tears with the sleeve of his coat, before anybody could see them. He pulled himself to his feet.

_'It didn't go that_ badly,'He muttered softly to himself, trying to deny the obvious truth in his mind. _'Only a stupid mudblood anyway.' _Severus flinched, even though he had only thought the word. _'I didn't mean that. She isn't like that.' _Severus shook his head sharply, blocking out all thoughts of what had happened that day.

Severus continued to pace forward, starting when he realised he was already at the top of Spinner's End. He hadn't found anything to hide the hole in his jeans with yet. Father was going to kill him. Gulping, Severus looked quickly around him, praying to see a scrap of material, or even a piece of paper that hadn't been there before. There was nothing. Crap. Briefly, Severus considered taking a detour, _accidentally_ dropping past somewhere with washing out, and borrowing some trousers off the line. Size didn't matter, Severus was used to wearing clothes to big or too small for him. No. That would only get him into more trouble, for being late. He was just going to have to face the music, and pray that mum was there, to cool down his father's anger. Sighing, Severus continued forwards.

His house was neither the best nor the worst down Spinner's End, but roughly average. Inconspicuous, just like his father liked it. And if Severus' father wanted something his way, he would get it, his way. The brickwork on the old house was still good, if a little damp, and only one of the windows was broken. The house was also quite big compared to its neighbours. However, the roof was completely corrugated iron, with the old roof having fallen down years ago, and the heating didn't work except for in his parents room. Worst of all, the water didn't come from the main grid, but channelled to his house from the dirty river, and supposedly filtered, though the stuff tasted awful. Apprehensively, Severus approached the chipped red door and knocked, twice. From the other side, he heard the jangle of keys in locks. Not bothering to question why they weren't just undone by magic, he stood perfectly still as the door swung open with a creak.

**A/N Thank you for reading! Please review if you have the time. Next update should be this Saturday, but failing that it'll be on Sunday. Also if anyone is interested in beta reading me could you drop me a PM? I'm an idiot when it comes to typos.**

**Thanks again, Brighty x**


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